Old Vic Season to Include The Entertainer, Frye's Cinderella

London's Old Vic has announced its 2006-2007 season, with a revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten, two Shakespeare comedies, a pantomime-inspired adaptation of Cinderella by Stephen Frye and a production of John Osborne's The Entertainer starring Robert Lindsay among the highlights.

The first production of the season will feature film and theatre star Kevin Spacey. He will headline Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten (which begins previews on September 15th and opens on September 26th) as James Tyrone Jr.. That revival will be followed by stagings of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night, both directed by Edward Hall, whose all-male Propeller troupe will perform them. Hall, with Matthew Warchus and Anthony Page, is one of the theatre's new Associates. The Shakespeare comedies will be co-produced by the Watermill Theatre in Newbury, and will run in repertory from January 5th through February 17th, with opening night set for January 17th.

The next show will be a 50th anniversary revival of John Osborne's The Entertainer, starring Robert Lindsay as Archie Rice, the music hall performer originated on stage and recreated on film by Sir Laurence Olivier. It will open in February of 2007. Lindsay is a Tony Award-winner for Me and My Girl, and also picked up Olivier Awards for that show and for Oliver!. Pam Ferris will co-star as Archie's wife Phoebe.

Another of other projects have been announced, although dates have not yet been attached to them. Spacey has commissioned actor/writer Stephen Frye (known to most American audiences for his performances in films such as V for Vendetta and Wilde) to adapt a pantomime version of Cinderella. As with pantomime tradition, a male actor will play the Fairy Godmother.

Warchus (The Lord of the Rings) is slated to direct a production of Alan Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests. The Old Vic will also stage Malcolm McKay's Bette And Joan and Di Trevis and Frank McGuinness' Londoners (working title) as part of its New Voices project. Spacey has also said that he plans to work once again with Sir Trevor Nunn, with whom he collaborated on last year's production of Richard II; a project for the two artists has not yet been announced.

The Old Vic's 2006-2007 season is likely to be closely watched by the critics who deemed last season disappointing. The much heralded production of Miller's penultimate play Resurrection Blues--directed by film legend Robert Altman and with a starry cast led by Neve Campbell, Matthew Modine and Maximilian Schell--was panned by most London critics. The poor reception prompted a decision to close the show a week early on April 15th rather than April 22nd. In addition, Spacey decided to keep the theatre dark for five months in between the Miller play and the O'Neill revival.

The Old Vic's previous productions since Spacey's 2004 appointment as artistic director--Maria Goos' Cloaca, the classic Philip Barry comedy The Philadelphia Story (starring Spacey and Jennifer Ehle), Dennis McIntyre's National Anthems and the Stravinsky piece The Soldier's Tale--received mixed reviews. Richard II, directed by Nunn and featuring Spacey as the deposed king of the title, fared better, however.

"We are under more scrutiny than any other theatre. But isn't it fantastic that people are talking about the Old Vic?...We will have other plays that won't work, every theatre has that. If you believe in something enough, nothing can dissuade you from doing it. I am here for the long haul..While a positive attitude may not solve all our problems it may annoy enough people to make it worth the effort," stated Spacey.

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